The article "BREAKING NEWS: COTS, NASA Invests in Private Sector Space Flight with SpaceX, Rocketplane-Kistler" ( www.spacefellowship.com/News/?p=1639#more-1639) says that [quote]NASA expects that purchasing commercial space transportation services will be more economical than developing government systems of comparable capability. This could free up additional resources for lunar missions and other activities beyond low-Earth orbit.

The biggest benefit of the anticipated cost savings is the opening of new markets for an emerging industry, according to Lindenmoyer. â€œIf we had cost-effective access, many new markets â€” biotechnology, microgravity research, industrial parks in space, manufacturing, tourism â€” could start to open. Thatâ€™s what is so important about this effort.â€